The oldest history of South Hedland can be seen in its signature pundul trees. These trees are remnants of Gondwanaland forest, from before the ice ages, more than 2 million years ago.

In aboriginal mythology the pundul were the source of maparn, or special powers.

In 1968 Port Hedland Shire Council resolved to establish the residential area of South Hedland. The name was approved in 1969 and the town was gazetted in 1973.

Building infrastructure commenced in South Hedland in 1970. The State Housing Commission was responsible for the construction and selected town planners Dr A Comar and Associates. The plan for the area was based on Radburn, with houses facing inwards to footpaths to give safe, walkable access to the schools and shops. That meant visitors arriving by car would enter in the back door of the home. To most locals including elected councillors at the time, the design was a complete disaster.

The first house built in Lawson, the first cell of South Hedland, is located at 46 Pedlar Street (Ref. Peter Starling).

First house built in South Hedland

By 1972, there were 250 houses in Lawson along with the South Hedland caravan park next to the football oval.

This bold design experiment came under fire by the Shire’s building surveyor, Mr Ron Britten. He said it was a “tragedy of design” that wouldn’t have been approved by the Town Planning Board. The back to front houses offered little streetscape to the locality, the design was inefficient for travel and provided little relief from the heat.

A review of the plan in 1974 found that while Corboys Place in Nucleus 1 was only 400 metres away from Bottlebrush Crescent in Nucleus 4, a vehicle journey between the two would be about one and a half kilometres. A significant redesign was called for to build easier connecting roads and streetscape appeal.

Significantly, the Pilbara got its first high rise flats in South Hedland, the tallest residential building between Perth and Darwin. The flats were purpose built for Mt Newman Mining’s single men’s quarters.

South Hedland continues to be an experimental residential area of the Shire of Port Hedland. Its transformation from back to front housing with little street appeal, to newly built amenities which are under pressure to deliver, makes South Hedland an intriguing place to study with all its complexities.

A visit to South Hedland is a must for all current and future town planners in local government.

Comments

We can see where and suburbanization share sirmlaiities. However, new urbanism can be accomplished in urban areas, as well. The idea of a self-sustained community within a city is very doable. Because of the recession, most new urbanism projects have been focused in fringe areas due to cost of living. An upturn in the economy and pedestrian pushes in places like New York City could change this pattern.

I used to live in Somerset Crescent and then Chunking Crescent – and I remember the back to front houses. In somerset the back of our houses were separated by a little footpath running the length of the street. But chunking had meters between the houses. I don’t know what it was for but it drove my mum a bit nuts that we could escape from both the front and the back of the house. The somerset footpath at the back served a purpose, since we could use it to get to the street where the phonebox was or across the way to Coles. Chunking cresent didn’t, at the time, serve any purpose. You could drive a car through the wide lane, but the gardens had no gated access to the back. Maybe they had plans for it, but it was left empty for the few years I was there. I thought everywhere was built that way until I travelled – especially in Europe. Things are very different – country to city. But I suppose it’s like designing your own kitchen, what works for your cooking habits, may not work for other peoples cooking habits.

As a surveying student in the early 70’s I studied a unit of town and urban planning was studied, and in this unit the Radburn design concept was examined. At that time “Crestwood” in Thornlie was being developed with the intention that housing layout would be based on Radburn. A visit to “Crestwood” showed that the concept had not been embraced with the majority of houses facing the street, so I was not surprised that the concept did not work in South Hedland.
In 1974 when I went to work in South Hedland I was dismayed at the amount of rubbish and old car bodies that had been disposed of in the areas set aside for pedestrian access and recreation. This being only a few years after the first of the housing had been completed.
Over the ensuing years much has been done to normalise the layout of South Hedland with the disposal of the pedestrian access ways to neighbouring land owners and the opening up of the road network by connecting the numerous cul-de-sac.
I agree that “A visit to South Hedland is a must for all current and future town planners in local government.” to see what not to do.